Brian O'Connor admits concern over Florida's home run hitting

Florida entered Friday’s 6-5 victory over Virginia having hit 129 home runs over the first 65 games of the season. By the time the game had finished, the Gators added another three homers to their ledger.

Those three Florida home runs all came in the final two innings as the Gators turned around a two-run deficit to pull-off a 6-5 walk-off victory.

While the final run wasn’t scored on a home run, it was the long ball that sparked the Florida rally. Cavaliers head coach Brian O’Connor recognized that as a concern heading into the game.

“Certainly we’re very aware of their aggressive offensive approach and their ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark,” O’Connor said. “And they did a great job of that in the final three innings.”

The first six innings were thrown by starting pitcher Nick Parker, who allowed only four hits and three walks over 90 pitches. He allowed only one run during his time on the mound.

But the bullpen of Virginia ran into some trouble. They combined for only 2.2 innings pitched, allowing five runs during that span.

“I thought Nick Parker battled,” O’Connor said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff. But in the first part of the game the wind was blowing in a little bit. It was tough to get a ball out of the ballpark. But their power showed and their approach showed the back part of the game, and they did a great job.”

Three of those runs — including the game-tying run — were scored via the long ball. Catcher BT Riopelle hit the first homer in the bottom of the eighth to make the scored 4-3.

After Virginia added a run in the ninth inning, Ty Evans immediately cut the deficit back to one with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Wyatt Langford, a likely top-five pick in this year’s MLB Draft, completed the comeback when he tied the game with his 19th homer of the season.

All three Florida home runs came off relief pitcher Jake Berry, who entered the game with six saves on the season.

“Certainly you hit that many home runs, at some point it’s going to show up, hopefully when a couple of those solo shots, other than the last one by Langford,” O’Connor said. “I’d rather have that than a two or three-run home run. We managed around it and were still leading by a run. But Jake Berry just couldn’t finish them off.”